


Will You Be There

by Kaillingme (Setty94)



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-06-17 09:55:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15458790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Setty94/pseuds/Kaillingme
Summary: No matter what happens, or for how long, Jongin and Baekhyun always find a way.





	Will You Be There

**Author's Note:**

> Self Prompt based on this song [ here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBC6I9u5vcY) of which I have interspersed lyrics and locations throughout the fic. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Also each section is related to each other, it's all one fic just different "times".

**The City**

* * *

 

They were standing in the center of an empty plaza. Nothing was on the ground other than a few pieces of litter and debris rolling around. In the center, the ground was cobbled and then surrounded by rings of grass. On all sides was a continuous many-floored building. Windows decorated the outside at even intervals. But the most striking thing of all was how utterly alone they were. It was just the two of them, standing fifteen feet apart, guns aimed at each other.

Jongin spit on the cobbled stone and jutted his chin out. “I can’t believe you’d do this Baekhyun!” He screamed, finger trembling over the safety. He didn’t want to do this. He could not possibly end things like this. Not when they had spent all those years together. Years that they were in love. 

Jongin’s gray overcoat whipped around him in the bitter cold. He adjusted his feet, trying to steady his shaking hand, but having a gun pointed at the man he’d loved for so long was stealing all his resolve. He felt his arm drop half an inch.

“It’s over Jongin...or should I say Kai?” Baekhyun screamed, thumbing the hammer. The wind blew his red hair across his grimace. He was looking at Jongin with the most vitriol that Jongin had ever seen.

“You don’t have to do this,” Jongin pleaded. None of this was supposed to have happened. None of this, but here he was. He thought he could outrun his superiors. He thought they were safe.  “We could run away.”

Baekhyun shook his head, glistening tears flinging from his face. “You knew the deal. You knew it was me this whole time, but you still let me in.”

“I let you in,” Jongin repeated, feeling hot tracks run down his face. “Baekhyun, if you do this–”

Baekhyun planted his foot, bettering his aim. He used his free arm to wipe his face and inhaled deep enough for Jongin to see his shoulders move.

“You’ll never find another me! You’ll never love someone the same,” Jongin screamed. He flipped the safety off, prepared to do what he had to to save his life. He should’ve guessed Baekhyun had been a sleeper. But he thought maybe, just maybe that love would muddy things. That love could prevail.

“You let me in!” Baekhyun hiccuped, his arm swaying slightly. “You did this to me! You ruined me!”

Jongin swallowed. Baekhyun was right. He could have made it easy. He could have taken Baekhyun’s life the night his mission called for it, but instead he fell in love. He fell in love with those plush cheeks, the way his smile was a bit rectangular, or how sometimes he was too loud. Jongin had fallen for all of that and pushed the mission from his mind, intent on going underground.

He’d spent months giving his superiors a wild-goose chase. He had them in the wrong city and the right times, had then believing that Jongin getting close to Baekhyun would allow them more intel. He had his superiors in the palm of his hand, but what he didn’t notice was just how tangled in the web of lies he was.

The ways of the heart were so mysterious; so powerful. Powerful enough for Jongin to risk their lives. Spies weren’t supposed to fall in love. Especially not of their calibur. Jongin should’ve known. He should have seen it all coming. But he was so blind and he and Baekhyun had grown soft in their later years. He never would have suspected this.

Baekhyun screamed again, his arm dropping and then rising again. He waved the gun around with abandon. He was fighting himself. Jongin stepped closer, hoping that he could maybe kick the gun from is hand and save them both.

_ Click. _

“Don’t move!” Baekhyun yelled. His nose was red and his eyes were puffy. “Please, don’t move, Ni...ni.”

Jongin froze, blood rushing to his ears. Baekhyun used his nickname. He was still inside there somewhere. Against all his training, Jongin ran towards Baekhyun, gun pointed just over his shoulder where he’d caught sight of a sniper in one of the windows.

_ Boom. _

  
  


**The Parking Garage**

* * *

 

They were standing in the center of a parking garage. It was shaped like a wavy donut, with the center hollow all the way to the ground. The lights on the upper levels were on and flickering. But there was not a car in sight. They were alone again, but this was not strange. It was all planned.

Baekhyun glanced up to the sky, his hands still clasped in Jongin’s. He smiled at their warmth and followed the clouds as they moved. He’d dreamed of this day so many, many times before. They spent so long getting to this point. 

Lovers since high school, Baekhyun had known back then that he only ever wanted Jongin. They’d gotten into so many things over the years, childish adventures that almost led to juvenile arrest, schooling that led to long nights spent holed up in their dorms or the library, and now, traveling the world to wherever their hearts desired. They didn’t have any roots, but that was okay, Baekhyun only needed Jongin.

Granted, in Baekhyun’s many fantasies, he had proposed in nicer places, more picturesque places, but something about this parking garage just screamed  _ now _ at him. Baekhyun flicked his gaze to Jongin, feeling his heart beat faster and faster in his chest.

“Jongin…” he paused, pulling one hand free to dig inside his pocket. “Every single day, you make me feel like someone new. I’ll never know what time will do, but I do know I want to spend the rest of it with you.”

Pulling out the box, Baekhyun watched as Jongin’s face blossomed into emotion. His eyes were wide, lips trembling and hands frozen by his jaw. He made the exact expression Baekhyun had known he’d make. 

“I– is this real?” Jongin asked, blinking like he couldn’t believe it. He ran his fingers through pastel pink hair and a slow smile stretched his mouth.

Baekhyun smiled. “Yes, babe, of course. I want to marry you. Do you wanna marry me?”

“Yes,” Jongin whispered. Then he said it again louder, “Yes!” He pulled Baekhyun into an excited hug and screamed it, “YES!”

Relief washed over Baekhyun as he wrapped his arms around Jongin, smiling until his cheeks hurt. He knew he wanted to take this step, but he hadn’t known just how happy he’d feel to hear Jongin want to do the same.

He broke the hug to open the little box, revealing two beautiful bands. He lifted them out, taking Jongin’s hand in his own and sliding it on. “I belong to you,” Baekhyun said. He gave Jongin the other ring and bit his lip to keep from crying tears of joy.

“I belong to you too,” Jongin said, sliding the ring on Baekhyun’s finger.

The two of them stared at their hands next to each other as a gentle breeze traveled through the parking garage, ruffling their hair and clothes. Baekhyun had never been happier in his life.

  
  
  


**The Red Room**

* * *

 

They were standing in the center of the Red Room; which was Jongin’s favorite room. The light bulbs emitted a thick blood-red light, the walls were bare except for the mirror at the other end. But what made the room stand out the most was the rice paper paned wall that split the room in two. That was the real reason Jongin liked the room, that and the mysterious dancer that always danced with him on the other side of the wall.

Stretching himself out on the floor, Jongin caught sight of the first shadow on the other side. It seemed his partner had shown up. He was a bit shorter than Jongin, but had wide shoulders and a narrow waist that made Jongin’s groin tingle. But something about the guy had transfixed Jongin. Something about how he danced. He wasn’t the absolute best, but he certainly held his own with Jongin.

When they would do friendly competition, each of them doing a set of moves and then copying the other, Jongin had noticed how sharp his movements were. It didn’t take long for the distant groin tingle to turn into something much more. A talent-crush if you would. Jongin was in love with his partner’s dancing. And seeing as they had never actually spoken to each other, that was all Jongin had to go on.

Tonight was different, though. As Jongin finished stretching and rose to his feet, he noticed that his partner had disappeared. That wasn’t too atypical. His partner had disappeared a few nights earlier to put on a song, so Jongin assumed the same was happening right now.

Humming played over the speakers with claps on the off-beats. Then a baseline started and a voice followed soon after. Jongin felt his body reacting to the song immediately. He swayed a bit, letting the music sink into his skin, his muscles, his bones and then burst into motion. He did a series of leaps as the song crescendoed and as he watched himself in the mirror, he caught sight of the shadow in the other room dancing the exact same routine.

He landed on the floor in a carefully executed fall and rolled on to his back, arching up and staring at his upside down face in the mirror. He crossed his legs over one another and slowly sank back to the ground and rolled to his feet. When he glanced over to the other side, he saw the shadow of his partner looking right back at him.

It was as if their minds had connected through the music and their bodies were linked. Every time Jongin fanned his fingers, arched his back, or spun, he would catch the shadow doing the exact same. They had to be on the same plane, the same wavelength because as the song decrescendoed into piano they both sank to the floor, folding over themselves, reaching for their toes, and rising again.

The final notes tinkled through the air as Jongin’s heavy breathing filled the air. He wiped the sweat from his brow and stayed there on the ground. He had never felt so connected to the music before. He had never danced so hard or so in sync with his partner. It was an uncanny feeling that crawled up his neck as he thought about it. 

Standing slowly, Jongin stared at the rice paper wall separating them. He saw his partner doing the same. He was still out of breath, the sound of it crinkling the rice paper between them. Jongin raised  his hand and placed his palm to the paper. His partner did the same, silence falling between them as they both clearly held their breaths.

The hand on the other side was warm. But all Jongin could think was  _ ‘I don’t need your hand, I need you, yeah.’ _ The lyrics from the song had imbedded themselves in his brain, playing over and over the harder they pressed their palms together.

The sound of tearing startled Jongin at first, but then he was face to face with a man with slightly droopy eyes, fawn colored hair stuck in little spikes from sweat, and a freckle above incredibly soft looking lips. 

Neither of them moved except to lace their fingers through each others through the bamboo pane. Torn rice paper lay in shreds on either side as every single pane exploded between them. It was then that Jongin noticed the song playing in the background, deflating from its climax as the rice paper fluttered to the ground.

Jongin stared at the man, feeling a tingle where their palms had connected. He stepped even closer, leaning down slightly, wondering if his lips would tingle the same. His partner gazed with wide, dark eyes and tilted his face, mouths crashing together as the song grew in volume.

Rice paper scattered even more but the bamboo frames remained in place. But none of that mattered to Jongin, he was consumed by the way his partner’s lips moved against his, the way his hand moved to cup Jongin’s jaw and pull him further through the empty pane.

They kissed until their lips felt like rubber, until their leg grew tired of standing and they sink to the ground, just lying there not speaking, but playing with each other’s hand. It was a strange comfort, a strange level of familiarity that had passed between them.

As the song began again, Jongin rolled to his shoulder, staring at his partner. “I’m Jongin,” he said.

“Baekhyun,” the man whispered.

Jongin repeated his name over and over in his head. He finally had a name and voice to the man he’d been half in love with ever since they first danced aside each other. He pushed up to his elbow. “One more dance before they come?”

Baekhyun nodded and shimmied through the empty bamboo frame. For the first time, Jongin felt the warmth of another human in close quarters. His breath hitched at the same time Baekhyun’s did, but neither dared to make a sound. Instead, they stood chest to chest, heads bowed as the beginning of the song started once more.

 

**The Skyway**

* * *

 

They both stood at opposite ends of the skyway. The outsides of the buildings it connected were black, with a red-orange interior wall. Everything was geometric rectangles that overlapped each other. Every slat of the outside of the buildings was lined in that same red-orange paint. It looked like a perfectly caramelized sugar dusted those parts, but Baekhyun knew it not to be true.

He stared at Jongin at the opposite end and didn’t move. He’d been pining over him for a while now, but never made a move on the guy who always smoked around this time of day. Baekhyun pulled his robe tighter around his pajamas and made his way to the middle of the skyway that connected their buildings and leaned over the railing. He stared down at the empty plaza beneath him and sighed.

The world always seemed so empty when he was with Jongin like this. He felt his body heat more than he heard him next to him. A single cigarette was pushed into his vision and he took it, holding it between his lips while Jongin lit the cigarette for him with a zippo lighter. Baekhyun didn’t thank him, he just puffed a few times and let the nicotine flow through him.

They weren’t supposed to smoke at the ward, but with as much freedom as the doctors gave them, Baekhyun figured they didn’t really care to begin with. After a few drags, Baekhyun exhaled and said, “What brings you here?”

“Same thing that brings you,” Jongin replied. He always had a way of making Baekhyun feel a bit overwhelmed any time he was near.

Baekhyun swallowed. Not many people knew why he’d checked into a mental hospital, but those that did know, probably wanted him to stay there. And if that was the same case for Jongin, then, well that made Baekhyun a little sad.

He glanced at Jongin, enjoying the way the rising sun made his skin glow golden. A twisted plume of smoke left his lips and Baekhyun forced himself to look away. He must not indulge. 

“They caught you with a case of –”

“Oh cut the shit,” Jongin said bitterly. “They caught me with a dick in my mouth. Now they think I’m some type of wild animal that needs to be locked up.”

That answered Baekhyun suspicions. He sucked into another lungfull of tobacco and let it out slowly, flicking the ashes off the end of the poorly wrapped cigarette. “I’ve always wanted to be a wolf,” Baekhyun said after a while.

“A wolf?” Jongin asked, leaning on the railing next to Baekhyun and letting his hands dangle over the edge. The cigarette looked so small between his fingers. Small and crooked. Almost like someone had drawn it in.

Baekhyun sighed. “Yeah. If they wanna call me a wild animal, I may as well be one that I like.”

“Good point,” Jongin replied. He looked like he was getting ready to leave, so Baekhyun savored every last moment he’d get with him – at least until tomorrow morning.

Baekhyun watched him put out the cigarette on the railing and then drop it below. He glanced back up at Jongin, feeling an incredible urge to kiss him.

The moment stretched. Baekhyun warring within himself against what he wanted to be right, but had been taught was so wrong. At the same time, Jongin had moved closer to him, leaving their bodies nearly touching. Baekhyun swallowed, his hand going lax and dropping the rolled tobacco.

More than he could have ever believed, he wanted to kiss Jongin. He wanted to feel his lips against his. He wanted to be consumed by him, utterly devoured and left in ruins. But at the same time he wanted to do the same to Jongin. So he stood there, staring into dark eyes and heart ramming in his chest.

“Will you be here in the morning?” Baekhyun asked, hoping that would give him the strength to pull away, but he remained unmoved, wholly captured by the way Jongin was looking at him like he  _ wanted _ him.

Wind slammed against them on the skyway as they stood, frozen in time. Until, Jongin moved and his lips came crashing down onto Baekhyun’s with the force of rushing water. He inhaled Jongin, hands climbing up Jongin’s back to his hair and holding him against Baekhyun’s mouth.

He tasted like an ashtray, but then again so did Baekhyun. That didn’t stop him from exploring Jongin’s mouth, mapping everything like he might not get the chance to again, and memorizing every strand in his fingers. He felt like he was falling – no, like he was diving into the wild.

  
  
  


**The Forest**

* * *

 

They were lying on gravel in the center of a forest clearing. The dense fog had left Jongin’s beige colored knit shirt cling to his skin. The fabric was so thin that the contrast of his areolas was apparent. Gravel stuck to his face as he slowly pushed to a sitting position. He looked around, at the unfamiliar setting in search of Baekhyun. He brushed his hands off on yellow pants cinched at the waist by a brown belt. The weight of his deep green trench coat making him feel even heavier.

It took a bit of searching, but Jongin found Baekhyun not too far away, dressed in a similar fashion, but with giant glasses on. Neither of them remembered how they got there, or why they were wearing what they were wearing.

The fog made Baekhyun’s blond hair stick to his forehead, but Jongin always found him cute when he looked like that. He liked his dark roots showing too. It took away from Baekhyun’s otherwise perfection. It was hard dating one of the world’s most sought after models, while also being quite popular himself.

“Where are we?” Baekhyun asked, scanning the trees that surrounded them. 

Heavy low hanging clouds masked most of their vision, clinging to their skin, hair, and clothes. Jongin shook his head. He had no idea. “I don’t even know how we got here...do you remember anything?”

“Nope,” Baekhyun responded. He grabbed Jongin’s hand and squeezed it. “Let’s stick together. Maybe there are more people out here.”

Jongin glanced down at their hands and returned the gesture. He figured he should have been more afraid than he was, but he was just mostly cold. The thin fabric wasn’t doing much to keep him warm and the coat was beginning to feel waterlogged. Yet, Baekhyun looked much drier than him.

They walked in silence, keeping close to each other as they pushed past palm leaves and elephant ear plants. The forest was impossibly green and vibrant despite the gray miasma that clung to the ground. It was aesthetic in a depressing and somewhat creepy way. But, no matter how long they walked, they couldn’t seem to find a road. Or any other signs of animal life.

There was something strange about the forest. Jongin wasn’t sure why he didn’t notice it at first, but as his shoes crunched the gravel, he realized they weren’t standing on soil. “Baekhyun look!” He exclaimed, pointing to the ground.

“Odd,” Baekhyun replied, finger to his lip. “Was it always like this?”

Jongin shrugged. He had also noticed that for as long as they’d been walking, the fog hadn’t changed, there was no indication of the sun or time for that matter. He spun around slowly, eyes glued to the canopy and saw a glass dome overhead.

“What the hell is that?”

Baekhyun followed his gaze up and let out a low whistle. He stepped closer to Jongin and tugged his arm. “We should try to find the wall.”

That made plenty of sense, so they once again began walking through the forest. They spoke periodically, talking about their respective photo shoots and then diving into more personal things. They hadn’t been dating for too long – only about two weeks at this point – but Jongin was really getting to know Baekhyun at this point.

It was a strange situation they were in, but even as time went on, Jongin really didn’t mind at all. In fact, it seemed like Baekhyun wasn’t even that panicked at this point either. They’d found comfort in each other in the middle of this forest. Comfort and companionship.

Around an hour or so later, they came across the wall. It had a grid of black metal separating panes of glass that had been long since scummed over. Jongin ran a finger down the surface and came back with green gunk. Where ever they were it hadn’t been used in a long time.

“Okay this is creepy,” Baekhyun whispered, fingers also covered in the green growth. “Where are we?”

Jongin felt the first spike of fear make his neck tense. “I don’t know.” He whipped around, hearing a sound in the bushes behind them. Someone – or something – was there.

Baekhyun seemed to have picked up on that and tried to push Jongin behind him, in an act of protection, but then a great flash of light went off, and Jongin’s vision was blurred. He blinked several times, not knowing what was going on, but he could feel the weight of Baekhyun’s hand in his and that kept him grounded.

Another flash, followed by another couple and then the voices started.

_ “I see your soul, I see your soul.” _

More flashes and Jongin brought his hand to wipe the tears from his eyes. The lights were hurting them. He turned to Baekhyun who was doing the same and grimaced. “What is this?” His brain felt heavy, like it was being weighed down by something big, something bad.

Beside him, Baekhyun was whispering the same phrase over and over. “Tell me that you hear me, tell me if it’s over.”

Jongin pulled him close. Something about this felt familiar. He rubbed circles onto Baekhyun’s back not only soothing his lover, but himself too. The motion brought a certain calm to his mind. But it was almost as if Baekhyun was glitching. He kept staring at Jongin with wide eyes, whispering those words over and over. 

The fog thickened, surrounding them more closely until even the flashes were dulled. Jongin and Baekhyun stood next to the grimy glass, huddled together. Cold, shaking, and nearly blind from the lights, they clung to each other. Fear ran so deep in them that they dared not move.

“That concludes today’s drop,” a voice said. 

Hands came out of the fog, reaching for Jongin and Baekhyun, grabbing at their clothes, faces, hair – 

Jongin blinked. Above him he saw the metal skeleton of the ceiling. Bright fluorescent lights hung over him, swinging slightly. Next to him was Baekhyun who was also bearily coming back to reality. He reached for his hand and laced their fingers together. They made it out.

“You both did well. Here’s your payment,” Jongin’s boss handed over a stack of money. “Be back in three weeks for the next batch.”

Jongin shoved the money into a ratty coat pocket and helped Baekhyun off the table. He hated seeing how shaken Baekhyun was after each drop. His eyes were unfocused and his movements unsteady. Jongin pulled Baekhyun’s arm over his shoulder. 

Together they shuffled out the door and into the world outside. It wasn’t always like this, Jongin thought as they squished closer together, avoiding the patches of darkness. It had been different before, much different. But this was their now. Testing the drop batches before they went out to the public in order to make a living. It was all they could do since the fall.

Still, Baekhyun seemed to take the worst of it. His head was foggy for a few hours longer than Jongin’s ever was. It would probably be sooner rather than later that Baekhyun would be unfit to do the drops. But that was okay. Because they had each other and – Jongin patted his pocket – they had enough to get by.

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to the Mods who have been so nice and sweet and just all around amazing to me! They let me drop a prompt and then self prompt and I cannot thank them enough. Also thanks to my beta who gave me praise and told me this wasn't absolutely horrible. Thank you to the readers who got this far, this is for you guys! 
> 
> Please, tell me what you liked~


End file.
